NEWS RELEASE:NATIONAL SPACE SOCIETY SAYS SPACE DECLARATION ANOTHER
REASON FOR CLINTON TO GIVE SPACE ITS DUE

CONTACT: Karen Rugg, 202-543-1900

(Washington, DC) -- April 16 -- Ms. Pat Dasch, executive
director for the National Space Society, made the following
statement regarding this morning's release of the Mission HOME
document, "Declaration of Space Leadership":

"The Declaration is significant not only because it
represents a consensus among space industry and space advocacy, but
because it does what our current Administration does not. It
embraces an aggressive commitment to the continued exploration and
development of space as a national priority.

"Using the Declaration as the newest tool in our arsenal, the
NSS will continue to urge the Administration to commit to a plan
for the human exploration of space beyond low Earth orbit. The lack
of interest the Administration has displayed in being involved with
long-term, substantive space issues is not acceptable. It is time
for President Clinton to acknowledge what our nation can gain from
space development in these times of tight budgets and difficult
policy decisions.

"We at the National Space Society fully intend to honor the
Declaration by enabling and facilitating legislative change to make
the achievement of its priorities a reality."

The National Space Society, founded in 1974, is an independent,
nonprofit space advocacy organization headquartered in Washington,
DC. Its 23,000 members and 90 chapters around the world actively
promote a spacefaring civilization.